George Parker has the inside dope on Draft/FCB's excitement for the recent account win and work it did for the new Electronic Arts game, Def Jam Icon, yet another "Yo mutha fucka, you fuck with me, I beat the shit out of your sorry ass" cultural stereotype that makes one particular segment of people look like pea-brained idiots with nothing better to do than self-genocide themselves out of existence. In support of that stellar accomplishment and lauding the agency's teamwork, Draft/FCB's three top dudes, Howard, Jonathon and Lawrence, in an internal memo, blather platitudes such as "tearing down geographical silos, tapping into cross-office expertise and growing our business" and "working together seamlessly in our new agency model...as a result of a global creative rumble." This is the genius it took win the account and promote a game who's sole purpose is to let kids idolize bad ass mutha fuckas as some class of hero? Eesh. Be careful what you attach your internal memos to.

In what could be labeled either a twist-the-story rant or an insightful examination of the double standard brands may or may not apply when they associate themselves - or choose not to - with nudity. Drunken Stepfather's Jesus Martinez is miffed marketers won't advertise on his site because he occasionally features nude images but they will advertise on Jane's Get It Together blog where, recently, fully nude images of woman's breasts have been proudly displayed alongside national advertisers such as Thermasilk, Oakley and Dove.

Should the morality police be called for this serious transgression of double standards or should we all relax because, in this case, context is everything. Drunken Stepfather, an endlessly amusing site focusing on celebrity news, features somewhat racy imagery and occasional nudity. Jane's Get it Together blog features reader-submitted nude pictures highlighting breasts as part of the magazine's Guide to Breast Health. Again, context. Breasts as arousing sex object versus breasts as body part in need of care just like any other body part.

- Classic "How many licks does it take?" Tootsie Pop commercial gets a makeover. not sure we like.

- With rampant ageism in this industry, here's a few reasons why it isn't always such a great idea to cast out over 40s.

- Cynopsis reports, "MySpace agreed to acquire PhotoBucket for a reported $250 million in cash and bonuses. Photobucket, one of the darlings of the Web 2.0 phenomenon, is the web's dominant photo sharing site with 41 million registered users."

- ABC will air Lost three more seasons ending in 2010. That's two seasons too many.

- Do you design movie posters? Do you think they are stupid/ Think you can do better? now you can design your own with Movie Poster Toolbox.

- Verizon and Fergie have teamed to offer mobile phone-based wireless tickets to her upcoming tour.

Ripe Blue Tomato's Greg Gillispie was on a recent road trip and wanted to share with us his interpretation of radio's recent HD radio promotions and wrote "Today I was on the road over 200 miles. I heard a number of station promos or spots for HD radio. All the spots were about the QUALITY and none about the CONTENT. And, all the spots were buried in the middle of the stopset.

So...I'm supposed to buy this new-fangled thang because it sounds good? Gee, why do they have to tell me about this when I seem to think what I'm listening to... with this spot...sounds pretty good. Or at least the QUALITY sounds pretty good.

But if I buy this new thang, what the hell am I supposed to get? CONTENT better than what I'm currently getting? Something different, unique, beneficial, entertaining, informative, WHAT?? They didn't tell me. Oh...and if I get it, should I STOP listening to what told me to GET it?

When we heard Philips was a new logo for its environmentally friendly -focused product line called The Philips Green Tick, we thought "Eew." "Disgusting." "Gross." Then we looked at the logo, saw that it looked nothing like a tick and said, "Huh?" The thing looks more like an ear of corn with a circle around it than the disgusting creature that love to borough itself into your skin.

Certainly, the word tick has many meanings but the sound a clock makes or a check mark or an informal unit of measure were not what immediately came to mind. Perhaps, unlike in Northeast America, they don't have the nasty blood sucking creatures in the U.K where this campaign originated. Perhaps, as is usually the case, we're talking out of our ass and making a big deal out of nothing. You choose.

Lonelygirl15 isn't the only girl selling out...uh...getting paid to do what she already does. Uber social connector ShareThis hooked up with Digital Influence Group to partner with YouTuber Abbegirl "to create a series of videos on how you share represents who you are." Her first video, Fashionista, has been viewed 37,000 times since its launch April 14 and points people to HowYouShare which explains how ShareThis works.

Purists might disdain this "soiling" of so-called "sacred" ground on which consumer-generated media walks but, like anything, if content is well done, sponsored or not, people will enjoy it. We enjoyed this.

Just where do we start with this one? First, some lessons in PR 101. Don't send a press release to a media outlet touting you've offered exclusivity and then, in the same press release, mention you've posted the commercial in question on YouTube. Last we checked, there are several billion other people who have access to YouTube on an given day.

Second, don't call something viral and, in the same press release, mention the commercial won't launch officially until the next day. And third, don't create a commercial that features insects getting pelted by food substances while filming it all in slow motion. Insect have cause groups to, you know. Fourth and finally, for God's sake, don't call a commercial a "film" unless you have your egotistical head stuck so far up your Hollywood wannabee ass, you can't tell the difference.

For any marketer wishing to birth themselves within Second Life, AdGabber member and Flea Global Creative Director Sunil Shibad has written an article that provides a sweet overview of recent marketer activities in the online world. Mentioning Pontiac's car buff location, Vodafone's Water Cooler, The Alzheimer Society, the CDC and several others, Shibad, while acknowledging SL will not make marketers rich yet, has illustrated through example why a marketer might want to consider having a presence in world. If you're on the fence about Second Life, his article may bring some clarity to your cloudiness.

Working at Agency.com's gotta suck. If it's not that Subway video, it's the agency's chronic employee bail out. It's kinda like summer interns. Just as soon as you've tricked them into thinking they'd actually see something in your sad, over-the-hill 30-something ass, summer's over and they're off to school again and you're left with nothing but a fantasy. And who can get any work done if your management team is playing musical chairs and your co-workers are changing like a client revises a layout?

The latest bit of Agency.com merry-go-round action comes courtesy of David Eastman, the agency's CEO who is leaving after less than a year on the job. That is so not a good indication of what's going on inside the fist-bumpers club. Whatever the reason behind the shuffles, this sort of stuff is not exactly a confidence builder for clients and prospects.

UPDATE: Well, who knows what the real story is. Commenters say he was fired and now we're told by Agency.com directly Eastman isn't actually leaving the agency but will take on a newly-created role of President-International beginning May 1. Agency.com Chairman Chan Suh will take on the role of CEO.

I (Angela) was really looking forward to attending ad:tech San Francisco 2007 panel entitled "The Online Female Consumer - Come Meet Them" Tuesday afternoon, featuring CEO Kate Everett-Thorp of Real Girls Media as moderator and Senior Analyst Debra Aho Williamson of eMarketer. Additional panelists were women pulled from various walks of life (well, except not), the youngest being thirty and the oldest in their mid-forties, with children of varying ages.

First impression: oh, we'll be hearing from Fembots. Kate and Debra seemed tight and mildly Stepford in appearance. I don't know what it was but the room took on a defensive and unfun Girl Power air that had nothing to do with trouncing around in platforms and going ziga-zig ahhh.